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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26494252">Creative Writing 1100 week one Exploratory Writing Exercise (Expanded)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyBoi1998/pseuds/BunnyBoi1998'>BunnyBoi1998</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikkie2571/pseuds/Nikkie2571'>Nikkie2571</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Creative Writing 1100 assignments [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxiety, Gen, Introspection, Literal Sleeping Together, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Sleep Deprivation, alarm clocks, degrading psyche</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:01:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,325</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26494252</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyBoi1998/pseuds/BunnyBoi1998, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikkie2571/pseuds/Nikkie2571</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>PROMPT: think of an everyday problem you have recently encountered, and write about a character (not yourself) struggling with the same problem, who has to go through three different attempts before they solve the problem (or not). How can you use this pattern to create anticipation, drama and surprise?</p>
<p>----</p>
<p>I wrote something for my class and then couldn't leave it as it was, so I wrote some more and then decided to post it here. I may do the same with other such assignments.</p>
<p>----</p>
<p>Jason was so tired of being tired, so he finally thought to find a solution.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Male Character &amp; Original Male Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Creative Writing 1100 assignments [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926208</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Creative Writing 1100 week one Exploratory Writing Exercise (Expanded)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The original part that I wrote for my class ends before the Dialogue section, as that is what fulfilled the requirement of the exercise, everything after that is just extra because I like cuddles</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Jason hadn’t been sleeping well or getting up at the right time lately. He knew of ways to fix it, knew that there existed solutions to his issue, but he’d been ignoring the possibility of using them. Whether it was laziness or the fear of failure he would not have been able to tell you.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So he bought an alarm clock. Like an old school alarm clock with bells that had a little mallet between them. He hoped that setting an alarm on it would help, but alas, the next night he took ages to get to sleep and still woke up before his alarm. Attempting to get some more sleep ended with him being late to work.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So he got rid of the alarm. But not the clock, he liked how it looked on his night stand. His next attempt was less… abrupt. He instead moved his bed so that his open curtains would let the morning light in through the window, seeing if a few days of waking up to that would get his sleep schedule back in order.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Two weeks later and Jason hadn’t woken up with the sun a single time. He’d woken up before the sun, woken up after it by a </span>
  <em>
    <span>significant</span>
  </em>
  <span> margin, but not with it. Clearly that wasn’t a solution either.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His next attempt was a bit more forceful. He researched sleep medication and started with some pharmacy shelf melatonin, taking it about an hour before he planned to go to bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t work. He didn’t sleep. Like it so often did his brain kept him up, reminding him of past regrets, of future fears, flowing ideas in and out of his mind for an hour, two, three, after he had decided to go to bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next night he tried some more, just two tablets. He was haunted by the memories of being unable to speak to girls and boys he had found attractive.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next he took three tablets, and though he could feel the drowsiness settle in, root through his whole body, his mind kept him up, haunting him this time with the thought of dying alone, cold and sad.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next night he took four. He knew it was medically impossible to overdose on this particular drug, probably why the medical people felt it safe enough to leave out on store shelves, but the knowledge that he was taking so many was starting to wear on him. Would four be enough? Would any amount at all?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That night his mind was noticeably silent, but he could feel his consciousness like a weight, an angry sensation at the back of his mind. He knew that wasn’t it, that was just him personifying his lack of sleep as some kind of malevolent entity, but what else was he supposed to do? He was tired and alone with only his mind to keep him company and it was the only thing he could blame for his poor sleep.</span>
</p>
<p><span>He could practically feel his mind growl at him, and Jason wished that sleep would come easier.</span><span><br/></span> <span>It did not.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>The next day, with five tablets in hand, Jason looked down at them in his palm, wonderinig if they would do anything to keep that growling thing at bay. Then he realized that the fact he was thinking of it as a thing still was probably worrying and swallowed the tablets dry. Which was against the directions, but he was feeling a little on edge and drama was always the answer to that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He slept that night. Easy and fast. Except that when he awoke he once again late for work. But it had worked! He had slept. He just had to sleep a little earlier now… or something.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason sighed. Sleep was a fickle beast, and not one he wanted to trifle with for much longer.<br/><br/></span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>----</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I have a request,” Jason said, trying not to sound shy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aaron, his best friend for many years, turned in his seat. “So that’s why you came here so early.” His voice was flat, not telling Jason anything, but the other didn’t look like he had any negative feelings at the moment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you know how I’ve been sleeping poorly?” Jason asked, starting to drum his fingers on the table. The pancakes Aaron had made sitting untouched, the butter still melting down the sides.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aaron nodded. “Yeah.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason twisted his mouth. “I’ve gotten to sleep, but it’s… not perfect. None of the solutions I’ve tried have worked the way I wanted them to.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aaron blinked slowly and then tilted his head. “Go on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason looked down at his fork. “So, I thought that if I had… someone next to me, to give me some sort of… reference, that my body might catch on and… also sleep,” Jason trailed off, his voice nearly a whisper by the end of what he was saying.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A hand reached out and ruffled his hair. “You’re the little spoon,” was all he said, making Jason squawk in protest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I-I-I’m taller than you!” he said almost indignantly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aaron shrugged, a passive </span>
  <em>
    <span>this is the way it is</span>
  </em>
  <span> sort of expression on his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re the one who asked, and that’s my condition,” he said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason scowled down at his plate and then took a bite out of the pancakes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay,” he muttered with his mouth full, the breakfast food turning to delicious bready gum in his mouth.<br/></span>
  <span></span>
    <br/>
  
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>----</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Aaron had come over earlier, just after he’d eaten his dinner. He’d come with his pajamas, an extra set of clothes, and a new toothbrush bundled under his arm and explained it as saying he wouldn’t have time to get ready in the morning if he had to travel back to his house to do so.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason didn’t disagree with that fact, but didn’t like that it came along with that small invasion of his home life that he hadn’t really agreed to. Though, he wasn’t sure what else could have been done.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason led him to his bedroom, feeling oddly on edge. He’d been to Aaron’s plenty, but Aaron so rarely came to his home. Even though he knew the other wasn’t the kind to do so, he couldn’t help but feel like the other was judging every tiny detail of his house that he could see.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He… really needed to sleep better if he was starting to think like this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aaron changed into his PJs without a word, while Jason did the same. He’d never actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>slept</span>
  </em>
  <span> with someone before. He’d been on dates and he done… things. But never had he slept in the same bed as someone else. He was nervous, on edge, and most of all he was unsure if this would even work. Everything else had failed in some way, why wouldn’t this?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d have to find another solution after this if it didn’t. But he’d get there. He had to. Sleep was important.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aaron got into the bed first, its place in the corner preventing both of them from doing so at the same time. He then lifted the blanket and Jason slipped in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first thing he noticed, was that his bed was already warm, Aaron’s body at his back already pumping heat into the mattress and sheets and blanket. His friend then, in a move that startled Jason to the point he nearly leapt right out of the bed, curled his arm around the other, as if protecting him. Protecting him from the growling thing that kept him awake.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now sleep,” Aaron said softly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The thing growled in protest, but Jason just held onto Aaron’s arm, focussed on the feeling of the weight and heat behind him. His mind tried to remind him of something terrible, but he stopped it in its tracks with memories of Aaron when they were young.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aaron snored and then Jason was asleep, safe and sound and only to be roused by the rising sun.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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